What do you drink with noodles? Two answers come to most people’s minds, I’m guessing: “lager” or “you don’t”.

I get both points of view. Wet noodle dishes, such as pho, have their own liquid incorporated, and I never feel the need for more with it. With other spicy noodle dishes, such as Singapore noodles, lager ticks the box pretty well, for instance Tiger Asian lager, £1.89 for 640ml at Iceland, or £2.19 at the Co-op, was originally from Singapore, but is now brewed under licence in the UK by Heineken).

But as you can see from my colleagues’ recipes this week, there are many different kinds of noodles that can be eaten in combination with other dishes, rather than on their own.

Is there a predominant ingredient that gives the dish its character? Does it come from a particular cooking tradition? Is the dish hot or cold, spicy or mild? Just like pasta, it’s the sauce, not the basic ribbons, that steer the match.

Take the umami character of Japanese-style noodles for a start. My first thought would be a sake and, believe it or not, there is one now made in Peckham, south London – a Junmai grade called Kanpai. It’s a bit spendy at £15 for 330ml, but it is really impressive. Drink that with Yotam’s seaweed and sesame salad with tahini dressing.

Wine is now made in Japan although, again, it’s not cheap. Look out for koshu, which is the name of both the wine and the grape. Marks & Spencer has one for £14, but I’d pay the extra for the clean, pure elegant Lumière Koshu Hikari from Amathus, which has four shops in London. Or go for the versatile Austrian grüner veltliner, which is a reliable all-rounder with noodle dishes.

Then there is tea. I like drinking green tea with noodles, but I’m also addicted to genmaicha, a green tea made with roasted brown rice that is delicious with sesame noodles – Clearspring has one for £3.59 a pack – although with Chinese noodle dishes such as chow mein (see Felicity Cloake’s recipe), I’d probably go for jasmine tea instead.

Spicier Thai and other south-east Asian noodles benefit from a wine with a touch of sweetness, such as riesling or pinot gris. New Zealand has good examples of both: try the smooth, aromatic The Crossings Pinot Gris from Marlborough, which would be great with a chicken noodle salad. As for red wine, it’s not for me with noodles, but don’t let that stop you.

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